It will shock nobody to hear that web design is not one of my hobbies or interests, despite the fact that I spend far too much time on the Net. I actually quite like black text on a white background, though I may change it if I find something more interesting, as long as it's readable.

My conventional interests are history and current affairs. I tend to a kind of lefty cynicism, in general, and am probably going to vote Labour for the foreseeable future. I wish I had saved some interesting articles by myself or others, but unfortunately over the years I've done no such thing.

In terms of fiction, I prefer fantasy and science fiction. Like many other people, I'm waiting for Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series to end, and I'm also reading George Martin's Song of Ice and Fire, which may well end up being just as interminable as the WoT.

The only "sport" that engages my interest is professional wrestling, which I find very entertaining and often a lot more clever than most people give it credit for. (Though sometimes it can be very very stupid.) Wrestlers do hard, dangerous work, and the least I can do is watch them on occasion. Probably my favourite wrestler is Kurt Angle, although I've come to find the famous Stone Cold Steve Austin very funny of late.

I like games of strategy, and can play both Chess and Go badly. I have played quite a lot of board games too, including classics like Diplomacy and the Settlers of Catan among others. Possibly my favourite board game is Britannia, formerly produced by Gibson Games and Avalon Hill, although Junta by West End Games is also a great deal of fun.

I also roleplay for fun. I started with White Wolf's Vampire: the Masquerade, and acquired a great deal of other RPGs since, some of which I've even played. I'm currently in a Mage game, which is run by my friend Mark "Pixies". I've also written some fan fiction in the past, primarily for the In Nomine RPG by Steve Jackson Games.

And I play CCGs. If you haven't heard of CCGs, the best way of describing them is that they're a very effective way of getting people to spend large quantities of money on pieces of cardboard. The particular pieces of cardboard that I find most interesting are made by the Alderac Entertainment Group, comprising a game called Legend of the Five Rings. I will eventually add an L5R section to my homepage, but not tonight.